Feeding them Albers medicated starter feed.
I thought they were eating normally... they all scratch around. the two that are sick will peep and such very loud sometimes. The one with the picture of the butt will try to clean off his butt with his beak very often. and like its beak has the whitish fluid crusties on it. but seems to be eating and drinking. she is smaller then the others but i think she might be a bantam.
Like Egg stated, around 3 weeks of age is generally the time to start using a preventative for Coccidiosis, and medicated feeds, depending on the the mill date, and how long it has been sitting on the shelf before purchase determines its effectiveness. If I see no milling date I will not buy it. You'll notice the first ingredients listed in your Alber's feed is "grain products". What the heck is that? Not only can rancid feed cause digestive trouble, but the chemical changes in medicated feed, and low quality feeds can cause these problems. Don't take that personally. I have learned much through trial and error just like all folks have.
What I would do is change feed brands, and use a good quality organic chick starter or a brand such as Nutrena if you use a conventional feed. Here's an example of ingredients for a starter formula:
Ingredients: Organic corn, organic soybean meal, organic peas, organic stabilized rice bran, organic wheat, limestone, organic sun-dried alfalfa, organic kelp meal, organic flaxseed, Redmond conditioner (clay), Zeolite, monocalcium phosphate, diatomaceous earth, Redmond salt, DL Methionine, poultry vitamin & mineral premix, organic garlic granules, organic horseradish powder, organic star anise oil, organic juniper berry oil
Guaranteed analysis: Crude protein min 22%, crude fat min 3.5%, crude fiber max 4.8%, ash max 8.5%
I use amprolium in water as preventative once a month, instead of medicated feed, as chicks grow from about 3 weeks up until they reach maturity (9 months of age) or depending on what I observe ( good indications are healthy appearance, good weight, active, good appetites, well formed droppings, and good quality, thick shelled eggs when mature) .
Amprolium comes in two forms, generally a 9.6 solution or a 20% powder. Corid, Ampromed, are a few a common brands found in feed stores.
The preventative mix for administration in drinking water is this:
9.6% liquid: 1 tsp per gallon of water
20% powder:
.5 tsp per gallon of water
The dosage doubles if birds are showing symptoms, and in either case, this is done for 5-7 days, making a fresh drinking solution each morning.
After the day of the last dose, use poultry vitamins-electrolytes and probiotic dispersible powder in waterers for one day, then just poultry vitamins, electrolytes for 2 more days. In fact, you can do that 3 days a week while birds are growing, before breeding season, during breeding season, in hot/cold weather.
Dawes Stress-eez Plus is a good poultry vitamin, and Probios dispersible powder is an excellent probiotic.
It is important to prevent digestive problems all the time, but especially as chicks grow. Stunted growth and weak immune systems are the result of damaged intestines/poor quality feed.
I was surprised it was not the one that seemed the worse off. I am inclined to assume it is cocci even though i have not seen bloody droppings. And am thinking I should treat them for it and hope that the treatment does the trick? Is this a mistake?
